Williams is a small, highly-selective school that attracts some of the top students in the country. Being rejected Early Decision can be a gut punch, especially if the rejection comes from a dream school like Williams. What you do now, though, can turn your application experience around. First, statistics.
If you’re reading this, you probably received disappointing news from Wake Forest in the Early Decision round, or you’re planning ahead in case that’s how things work out. Wake Forest offers both Early Decision I and Early Action application options, but we’re focusing on EDI here because you will most likely receive a response with time (albeit rushed) to make big changes to your college application strategy in the Regular Decision and Early Decision II round. The EA decisions for Wake Forest come out after most Regular Decision and EDII deadlines, so it’ll be too late to implement our advice in this post (an incentive to plan ahead!).
Receiving a rejection in the Early Decision round always hurts. You probably had this vision for your college application experience where you’d do your work early, you’d get in early, and you would be done early. But now Vassar said “no” early decision and you’re facing a pile of applications and looming deadlines, and possibly no strong sense of what needs fixing. Well, that’s why we are here to help. First, though, let’s break down what went wrong with Vassar so we can rebuild on firmer footing.
We know getting rejected is tough, and an early decision rejection from your dream school can hit especially hard. Pomona’s acceptance rates are no joke—7% overall and 13% for ED. But keep in mind, that doesn’t mean you were “twice as likely” to get in during ED, and approx. 1,400 other students also got similar news. You’re far from alone in this, and we want to remind you: not getting into Pomona doesn’t define your future. You’re still headed for a fantastic school where you’ll thrive.
Hey there, we know you just got rejected ED from Johns Hopkins, and we’re sure you feel pretty blah right now. You might be angry, sad, disappointed, or some secret fourth thing. We get it – and the wisdom we’ve gleaned from living a little longer than you and working in this industry tells us that you will absolutely still go to college, a great college, and that this rejection is not a reflection of you as a person.
UVA, or the University of Virginia, is one of the most popular state schools in the country. This comes with an equally high level of competition, which you’ve been on the disappointing end of. A rejection from UVA Early Decision is frustrating, but it’s also not the end of the world nor the end of your journey. In this post, we’ll break down what to do next. We’re focusing on Early Decision only here because it is a time of opportunity. The Early Action decisions come out after Regular Decision deadlines, but the Early Decision notification date gives you enough time to make adjustments to (or completely overhaul) your strategy. First, let’s talk nuts and bolts.
If you’ve landed here, it probably means you didn’t get the news you wanted from Swarthmore. We’re really sorry to hear that—rejection is tough, and it’s even harder when it’s from a school you were genuinely excited about. But try not to let this discourage you. This one decision doesn’t capture who you are or what you’re capable of. You’ll find a great school that’s the perfect fit (yes, you will go to college, we promise), and you will be successful! We promise!
Applying to college is stressful even if everything goes right. When you hit a roadblock, especially when dreams are involved, it can be downright painful. And if you’ve been rejected from Tufts in the Early Decision I round, you’re probably somewhere between stressed and heartbroken. No matter how you feel, you are completely valid in those emotions. But there are also actions you need to take to turn things around for your best possible outcomes in the next application round.
First off, sorry. If you are reading this blog, you have just received some bad news. Vanderbilt was likely your dream school or at least a school you loved enough to apply ED to, and getting a “no” stinks. However, application season isn’t over, and there is still time to get into great schools. All you have to do is put the work in, and you can turn it around for regular decision.
If you’ve been rejected by NYU Early Decision, that’s a major downer. You picked New York University for your Early Decision school because it was a top choice that you knew you wanted to attend, and believed you had a strong chance at. But it didn’t work out, and now you need to know what to do next. First, let’s do a bit of a post-mortem on NYU.
No one hopes for a rejection letter, but for many hopeful Ivy League applicants, it happens. First off, sorry that you didn’t get into Cornell. However, it isn’t the time to mope. There is still a lot of work to do, and the next two weeks will be super important to maximize your chances for a successful Regular Decision round.
If you’re here, we are assuming you’ve just been rejected ED from Dartmouth and don’t know what to do next. You’re probably reeling and need something to do to keep you occupied. First, we want to say that Dartmouth is an incredibly hard school to get into – a 6% overall acceptance rate and a 20% ED acceptance rate put it solidly in that “far reach” category. You not getting in doesn’t mean you won’t get into another amazing school, and we can say with decades of wisdom that you will go to college and you will be successful!
So, you’ve been rejected ED from Duke. First of all, we’re sorry, and we’re sure you’re having a lot of feelings about this right now. And, since you’re here, you probably want to know what you can do in this moment to take control of this situation. We want to say that Duke is a crazy hard school to get into – they haven’t released precise data since 2021, but we know their acceptance rate hovers around 5%, and their ED acceptance rate is about 15%. That doesn’t mean it’s 3x more likely to get into Duke ED. It means you have about the same chance you would if you applied to Georgetown, Berkeley, or UVA – aka, hard. That also means this is not a reflection of you or your talents or smarts or overall coolness, but rather that these schools have very limited spots and have to leave lots and lots of deserving students out of the mix.
If you’re here, we know you probably just got rejected from Columbia, and you don’t know what to do next – we’re sorry that happened, and we know it feels awful. First of all, this admissions decision is not a reflection of who you are as a person or of your hard work and talent. It’s important to remember that, especially in the Ivy League, there are countless students who are more than qualified to get in, and there’s simply not enough space for all of you. You will go to an amazing school, even if it doesn't feel like it right now.
No one wants to be rejected, but if you are reading this blog, it happened. First off, sorry! Whether you applied ED or EA, the University of Chicago was important enough for you to apply early. Especially if you applied ED, this might feel like a major setback, but application season is far from over, and it's time to pivot! We want to help by telling you how.
Getting deferred is a bummer. Applying to Wesleyan early took time and effort, and this can feel like a major setback. However, try to see the silver lining here: you weren’t rejected. Make no mistake, Wesleyan’s admissions office is still seriously considering your application. And you still have time to get in. It might just take a little work.
Rejection is never easy, and getting turned down by your ED school can really sting. While it may not help much at the moment, keep in mind that Barnard has an 8% acceptance rate. Single digits!! That’s crazy competitive, so you shouldn’t take this rejection personally. Not getting into Barnard ED doesn’t mean you won’t get into other great schools. In fact, we can confidently say that you will end up at a college, even if you don’t know where just yet.
If you’re here, we’re guessing you got rejected from Bowdoin. First of all, we want to say we’re sorry, we know rejection sucks, and it’s probably suckier when it’s from a school you were so excited about. We hope you don’t get too down on yourself because this rejection is not a reflection of who you are as a person, and you will go to a great school and go on to do great things!